Deputy Acton and Jail Supervisor Leon Egley were shot and killed during an attempted jail break.

On June 22, 2000 at approximately 12:45 hours, Deputy Acton and Jail Supervisor Leon Egley were were working shift at Randolph County Jail when a man and a woman rang the night buzzer. After being let in, the suspects opened fire on the two deputies. The male suspect shot Deputy Acton in the forehead killing him instantly. He then shot Supervisor Egley who fell to the floor. The suspect then took the keys and attempted unsuccessfully to open a cell door and free a prisoner. When the suspect returned to the dispatch area Supervisor Egley grabbed his leg and the suspect shot him several more times. Supervisor Egley sustained a total of five gunshot wounds, three to the forehead, a grazing wound to the wound to the right cheek and a wound to the upper right shoulder. The suspects fled without freeing the prisoner but were arrested in Kansas later in the day. Following department regulations both officers had been unarmed while in the jail. There was no barrier separating the deputies from visitors in the lobby.

The male suspect, Michael A. Tisius, was convicted and sentenced to death. The female suspect, Tracie Bulington, plead guilty to murder and received two life sentences. The incarcerated suspect, Roy Vance, who planned the jail break was sentenced in July 2002 to life without the possibility of parole.

The killings came on the heels of warnings that the jail was not secure. There was no barrier between the lobby and the dispatch station where the deputies were sitting unarmed as was standard procedure. The jail was redesigned following the incident to include barriers and videotaped surveillance.

Supervisor Egley was survived by his mother and four brothers. He was a member of the Providence Baptist Church, the Huntsville City Council and the Huntsville Masonic Lodge. Interred: Huntsville City Cemetery.

Deputy Acton had been employed with the Randolph County Sheriff's Department for two months. He was one month from completing his college education and to become a sheriff's patrol deputy. Interred: Memorial Park Cemetery, Columbia, MO.